Calling Jeff Bailey.

Rocco Baldelli's left hamstring has been bothering him for the past week but he felt capable of playing right field and getting into the lineup today. In his second at bat, he hit a ball to the warning track and found his way to third base on Nick Markakis' error. But when the fourth inning started, Chris Carter found himself in right field and Rocco, potentially, on the DL.

Meanwhile down on the farm, Jeff Bailey had been playing left field for Pawtucket when he was pulled from the game. Apparently, ready to be sent up to Boston to take Rocco's spot.

There has been no official announcement, Francona says that will have to wait until tomorrow.

Lefty over Righty.

I really should work on not getting so attached to my quadruple A guys. You would think I knew Jeff Bailey (or "poor Jeffy" as he became known this afternoon) from how disappointed I was for him after reading that the fifth outfielder position had been pretty much given to Chris Carter. He has an out tomorrow but I hope he doesn't take it. I suppose that I could be mature and wish that there was something better than a month long back-up, back-up position out there for him but I don't think I will.

As for Carter, I like him. I do. He's an intelligent individual and his Dad is a Sox fan. He may be horrific defensively but he has a swell bat. I hope that he does well.

Happy Birthday Jonathan!

One year ago I wished Jonathan Papelbon a happy twenty-seventh birthday and embarked on this silly birthday project. Having come full circle, Papelbon turns twenty-eight today. He's an idiot and an odd-duck but I love him dearly. So, here's to a continually healthy shoulder, the safe arrival of the bambinos, and a return to dominance to 2009.

I don't recall where I found the scan from Papelbon's high school yearbook (I did edit out the girl though--seemed like the right thing to do.) Those are quite the duds though.

Also, I just wanted to point out that I didn't forget about Jeff Bailey (he turned thirty on 11/19), I just didn't have anything to say. And since I probably won't bother with Jonathan Van Every, he turns twenty-nine on Thanksgiving. Happy birthday and many happy returns to both of them.

The Boys of the Pacific Northwest.

(or the story of Red Sox rookies whose names start with the letter J--except for Justin Masterson who doesn't count)

1. Jed Lowrie has done such a fabulous job filling in for Julio Lugo--another J--that people are taking notice.

2. Jacoby the thief. Jacoby Ellsbury steals bases in much the same way that he steals hearts-often and, seemingly, without effort. The first bit of Ellsbury-ana comes to us from the Projo. The second piece comes from The Register-Guard of Eugene, OR.

3. Jeff Bailey is just happy to help.

4. This post was originally titled "The Boys of Oregon" but that had to be scrapped once it was discovered that Kelso, Washington was, in fact, not in Oregon and, therefore, Jeff Bailey wasn't Oregonian. With the title change it seemed only fair to find something about Jon Lester. This was the best I could come up with. Who would have thought that Jon Lester's musical tastes were about as exciting as Jon Lester himself?